KATHMANDU, Jan 26: It has been disclosed that Bikal Paudel, the suspended executive director of the Security Printing Center (SPC), and Sunil Paudel, the suspended Managing Director of Nepal Telecom, who are currently in the custody of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), have deposited money in Singapore.

The CIAA has found evidence that a company called Bancotec in Singapore deposited money in the accounts of the Paudel duo, who are in the custody of the CIAA on the charge of acquiring illegal wealth through corruption.

According to details obtained from a high-level source of CIAA, a sum of 58,000 US dollars was deposited in Sunil's account number 380-9483108 on January 2, 2022.

It seems that a company called Bancotec in Singapore has deposited funds in his account through Standard Chartered Bank.

Likewise, on December 6, 2021, a company called InstaSafe in the United States deposited 77,545 US dollars in his account through Bank of America. On August 2, 2021, $24,995 and $47,745 were collected on August 25, 2021 from InstaSafe.

Similarly, on August 2, 2021, USD 24,995 has been deposited in the account number 380-9472084 of Bikal Paudel, the suspended executive director of SPC, in the US. On March 24, 2021, Banco Tech deposited USD 50,000 as remittance in his account, sources said.

On April 16 of 2023, the CIAA filed a case against them at the Special Court. The case is still ongoing. It seems that the government ministers for the past five years have acquired illegal wealth by defying the power center.

Republica has learnt that they opened accounts in foreign banks and deposited the amount without the approval of Nepal Rastra Bank. The CIAA is investigating the Paudel duo on the allegation of illegal acquisition of wealth.

The CIAA has been claiming that both of them had opened accounts in foreign banks without the approval of Nepal Rastra Bank and had been formally appointed as international consultants while working in Nepal's government service. The CIAA detained both of them for investigation on Wednesday. The CIAA presented both of them to the court on Thursday for an extension of time to keep them in custody for investigation.

The Special Court is going to decide whether to keep both of them in the custody of the CIAA and investigate them or to investigate them outside the prison.

In the case of Bikal Poudel, he has also obtained a permanent residence permit in the United States of America. Due to the potential destruction of evidence and the risk of escape, the CIAA said he was taken into custody after issuing an arrest warrant.

"As it appears that there will be a hindrance in the investigation work, an urgent arrest warrant was issued against them on January 24, 2024 and they were taken into custody and further investigation is underway," the CIAA official said.

The Paudel duo, who were taken to the Special Court for extension of the investigation time, argued that they should not be detained and even extension of time was against the law. The Paudel duo demanded consultations with lawyers. After that, the Spokesperson Dhan Bahadur Karki said that there will be a debate at the  Special Court on whether or not to keep them in custody.

Proof of deposit received by Republica

 
• Bikal_Paudel
 
• Sunil_Paudel
 
• deposited_money
 
• Singapore
 
• CIAA